My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils come from behind in the ninth to clinch the divisional series, beating the Rockies, 5-4.

The Phils, with two outs in the top of the ninth, scored three runs to come from behind to defeat the Rockies, 5-4. They win the NL Divisional Series, 3 games to 1, and now go on to Los Angeles for a rematch with the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

The Phils took a quick 1-0 lead in the first as, with one out, Shane Victorino hits a solo home run, his first home run of the series. The Phils would make it 2-0 in the sixth as, once again with one man out, Jayson Werth hits a solo home run of his own, his second home run of the post-season. The Rockies would get a run back in their half of the sixth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Troy Tulowitzki hits an RBI double, knocking in Todd Helton, who had earlier reached base on a walk, making it a 2-1 Phils lead. The game would, in the meantime, become a pitchers’ duel between Phils’ starter Cliff Lee and Rockies’ starter Ubaldo Jimenez for seven innings. Lee would pitch almost flawlessly, giving up just a run on five hits and two walks, while he struck out five. Jimenez, in the meantime, in spite of a high pitch count, would only give up two runs, both on home runs, on six hits and two walks, as he struck out seven batters, with two of them coming in the third as he got out of a bases loaded jam, via singles to Victorino and Chase Utley, which would send Victorino to third, with Utley going to second on the throw to third and an intentional walk to Ryan Howard, with one man out, as he struck out both Werth and Raul Ibanez swinging. In the eighth, the Phils threaten to add to their lead as they once again loaded the bases via a walk to Utley, an intentional walk to Werth, after Utley had stolen second base, and a walk to Ibanez, with one man out, but they would be turned back as Pedro Feliz popped up the first pitch to the shortstop, 6-unassisted, for the second out, and then Carlos Ruiz grounded out, 6-3, to end the inning, leaving it a 2-1 Phils’ lead. The Rockies would tie the game up at two-all in their half of the eighth as, with two men on, and with two men out, pinch hitter Jason Giambi hits an RBI single, scoring Dexter Fowler, who had earlier walked, and was safe on second on a missed catch error by Jimmy Rollins on a ground ball hit by Helton, after Fowler had leaped around Utley without touching him when he went to field the grounder, while Helton would move up to second. The Rockies then took the lead as, with two men on, and still two men out, Yorvit Torrealba hits a two-run double, knocking in both Helton and Giambi, making it 4-2 Rockies. The Phils then struck back in the ninth as, with two men on base, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run double, scoring Victorino, who was earlier safe on a force out, 4-6, wiping out Rollins, who had earlier singled, at second base, and then went to second base on defensive indifference, and Utley, who had just walked, tying the game up at four-all. Werth then followed with an RBI single, scoring Howard and giving the Phils a 5-4 lead. The Rockies would make one last attempt in their half of the ninth, as they got two men on base, via singles to Carlos Gonzalez and Helton, with two men out, before it was stopped by closer Brad Lidge as he collected his second save of the series by striking out Tulowitzki swinging, as he could not hold up his swing, for the final out.

Cliff Lee got the no-decision as he pitched seven and one-third innings, giving up three runs, only one of which were earned, on five hits and three walks, while he struck out five. Ryan Madson blew his second save of the post-season, before picking up the win, as he went two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk. His record in the series is now 2-0 with an ERA of 3.38. Scott Eyre picked up his second hold of the series, as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits. Brad Lidge picked up his second save of the series as he struck out the only batter he would face. Ubaldo Jimenez also received a no-decision as he pitched seven innings, giving up just two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Franklin Morales pitched a third of an inning, giving up three walks, as he struck out one. Rafael Betancourt pitched two-thirds of an inning, getting out both men that he would face. Huston Street blew his second save of the series, as he also received his second lost in the series, as he gave up three runs on three hits and a walk, in two-thirds of an inning, while he struck out one. His series record is now 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA. Joe Beimel pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face.

The Phillies collected nine hits in the game, with Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth leading the team with two hits apiece, with one of Victorino’s hits being a solo home run, and one of Werth’s hits being a solo home, his second of the series, as he knocked in two runs in the game. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz had the other three Phils hits, with Howard’s hit being a two-run double, which helped fueled the Phils’ comeback in the ninth. Phils’ batters 2-6 went a combine twenty-seven for seventy-four in the series, collecting a combine total of seventeen singles, five doubles (Victorino (1), Howard (3), Ibanez (1)), a triple (Werth), and four home runs (Victorino (1), Utley (1), Werth (2)), along with fourteen walks, as they knocked in a total of seventeen runs (Victorino (1), Utley (1), Howard (6), Werth (4), Ibanez (5)), while scoring nineteen of the Phils’ twenty runs. Carlos Ruiz also did well in the series, as he went four for thirteen with two walks, knocking in the other three Phils’ runs.

The Phils will not play again until Thursday when they will start the NL Championship Series against the Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium. Game time and starters have yet to be announced.

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